Mangalore, January 22: “Jesus Christ will not forgive the sin of the Mangalore Diocese, which is fooling poor Christians without any sense of shame” — This was the reaction of a poor Christian couple, which was projected as the first beneficiary of the 'Mangalore Diocese's 'philanthropic project' of donating 160 houses to poor as part of its post-centenary silver jubilee celebrations.
“We are deeply hurt after coming to know that media projected us as the first beneficiaries of the Mangalore Diocese's so called 'shelter-for-poor' project. In fact we were the first victims of the unpardonable lie and deceit of the Diocese”, said Irene Rita D'Souza, whose husband John D'Souza had received the key from Mangalore Bishop Dr Aloysius Paul D'Souza on January 16, at a formal 'house donation function' in the presence of media at Maroli near here.
“Neither me, nor my husband were aware that Mangalore Diocese was going to project our newly constructed house as donation, when they forcefully organized a 'house-warming' celebration”, said D'Souza at a press conference convened by the local unit of Peoples Union for Civil Liberties here on Saturday.
“How can the Church people call it a donation, when I had pledged my gold ornaments to construct this 400 square feet house on our own land?,” questioned Irene D'Souza, who claims herself to be an illiterate.
Irene and her husband who resided in a rented house in Kulashekara for many years, had dreamt of constructing a house of their own.
“By pledging three gold ornaments including a wedding ring, I was able to raise Rs70, 000 to construct the house. However, we needed more money to complete the house” she said.
“Meanwhile, Kulashekara Church furnished me a loan of Rs 1 lakh and asked to sign on a stamp paper committing me to pay Rs 2,000 every month. They also gave me Rs 50,000 additional loan. However, when the Church people invited me for the loan they did not inform me about the Diocese's plan of house donation,” she said.
She said that she came to know about the real picture only after people began to point fingers at her.
“I felt humiliated when I was told that the house was a donation of the church. Feeling robbed of my self-respect, I immediately returned Rs 50,000 to Fr Valerian Pinto in Kulashekara church,” she said.
She also said that she wanted to return the loan of Rs 1 lakh too at a public function in front of the media. “Let Mangalore Diocese organize a function to take back their loan and remove the plaque with the engraving that the house is a donation of Mangalore diocese,” she said.
She also criticised the double standard of the priests. “They preach in the Church that when you do alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does. But the same priests projected the house constructed with my own money and with the help of loans, as their donation”, she lamented.
PUCL State President PB D'sa said the family's plight was just a tip of the iceberg when it comes to the blunders of the Mangalore Diocese. He predicted that there would be a repeat of such incidents as diocese completes 160 houses.
Mangalore Bishop hands over key to the poor Christian couple –File Photo
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